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Better support for audio/video capture

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by Justin Hunt.  

There is another thread going on that started to get into this, but I thought it deserves its own space.

Moodle doesn't have its own audio/video capture capability. For content creation and for language classes these are pretty much necessary. The current thinking is that since no recorder really covers all the bases, it is best to rely on plugins and let people choose the one that at least covers their bases. I basically agree with this. With Java applets insecure and basically dead, Flash only covering desktops, and HTML5 recording not up to speed , the landscape is changing and its a bad time to pick winners.

However there is still a lot we can do to shore moodle up. Basically I think Moodle needs to have a central media capture API that is called on from other areas of Moodle. So when Paul Daniels wants to add a recorder to his VideoBoard mod, he should just be able to call on Moodle's video capture api. Similarly the PoodLL audio recording assignment, would also be able to call on Moodle's audio capture api, and get a recorder back that is Moodle aware. As for the recorders themselves, Moodle might provide a base range of recorders, but should allow hooks for other recorders that implement the required API's, to be registered centrally.

I believe that this is similar to the way the new Media Capture repository works. Except there everything is limited to working as part of the repository. There is no central API that might allow someone to put an audio recorder in their slideshow mod, or anywhere else.  The repository system is a good fallback but it just isn't direct enough for all cases.
 
Using this system would allow mods to call up an audio recorder, much as they now call up an HTML area or a file upload area, without needing to know the details of the implementation of the recorder. As recorders drop off the radar (java etc) and new ones show up (HTML5..) the mods require little or no modification, and Moodle can stay on the curve. The same system could work not just for audio and video, but for drawing applications. 
 
The need to implement recording functionality is currently an impediment to the development of new and interesting mods because of the complexity of the task. And given the changing landscape is a risky undertaking. Having a central API could remove the impediment and future proof Moodle.

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